Over 40 killed in Syrian airstrike

by Zeina Karam - Aug. 16, 2012 11:01 PMAssociated Press

Syrian government airstrikes on a residential neighborhood in a rebel-held town killed over 40 people and wounded at least 100 others including many women and children, international watchdog Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The strikes on the town of Azaz in northern Syria a day earlier leveled the better part of a poor neighborhood and sent panicked civilians fleeing for cover. So many were wounded that the local hospital locked its doors, directing residents to drive their injured to the nearby Turkish border.

The bombardment appeared aimed at rattling the sense of control that rebels have sought to project over the northwestern corner of Syria near the Turkish border since they drove President Bashar Assad's army from the area last month.

Reporters from the Associated Press saw nine bodies in the bombings' immediate aftermath, including a baby.

HRW said two opposition Free Syrian Army facilities in the vicinity might have been targets of the Syrian aircraft.

One was the headquarters of the local Free Syrian Army brigade two streets away from the block that was hit. The other was a detention facility where the Free Syrian Army held "security detainees" -- government military personnel and members of pro-government shabiha militia. Neither of these facilities was damaged in the attack.

Azaz is also the town where rebels have been holding 11 Lebanese Shiites they captured in May. On Wednesday, Lebanese media reports conflicted on their fate. It was unclear whether they had been affected.